GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) – Duke players were asked several times if
they ever felt sorry for teams like Monmouth in the NCAA
Tournament.
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Tue, May
2
Duke was blowout city against Monmouth, as expected.
The good news is that
Jason Williams was at full force, knocking down 3's with a healthy
ankle. Duke got 22 big ones from Williams and 21 from Shane Battier before
Coack K pulled the starters. The one-two punch was simply too much for the
Northeast Conference winners. No surprise, Duke marches on.
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Those questions were quickly dismissed following the Blue
Devils' 95-52 victory Thursday night in the first round of the East
Regional.
"We're not in the business right now to make friends," Duke's
All-American Shane Battier said. "We're in the business to win
ball games, but not rub it in. The best way to respect a team like
that is to play hard."
The Blue Devils will play Missouri in the second round. The Tigers, who beat Georgia 70-68 on a last-second jumper, are coached by former Duke point guard Quin Snyder.
Duke point guard Jason Williams proved his sprained left ankle
was OK by scoring 20 of his 22 points in the first half of the
43-point victory.
Battier added 21 points and 10 rebounds as coach Mike Krzyzewski
improved to 51-14 in the NCAA tourney. During one stretch of Duke's
62-point first half, Battier hit a pair of 3-pointers and had a
layup in a span of 57 seconds.
Rahsaan Johnson, the Northeast Conference player of the year,
had 11 points for Monmouth (21-10).
Duke (30-4) shot just 38 percent in three games to win the
Atlantic Coast Conference tournament for a third straight year last
week in Atlanta. But the Blue Devils got their shooting touch back
in a big way against the 16th-seeded Hawks, going 18-for-38 from
3-point range.
"I guess we were due," Duke's Mike Dunleavy said of the team's
58 percent shooting. "We haven't had one of these games in a
while. Everything was confident.
|  | | Casey Sanders, left, and Duke didn't give Jay Dooley and Monmouth a chance in their first-round meeting Thursday. |
"Coming from the Georgia Dome, a really big arena, then coming
into here, it makes for a better shooting background. It was a
night where everybody was hitting."
The 18 3-pointers by Duke tied a school record set this season
against North Carolina A&T.
"I knew they could shoot, but I didn't know they could shoot
that good," Monmouth's Kevin Owens said. "We weren't scared, but
we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off. If
they don't win the whole think I will be shocked."
Duke did get a scare up 43 points with 14:28 left when Williams
hurt his ankle again following a twisting layup. He left the game
and didn't return, getting ice on the bench as his teammates
continued the blowout.
Williams said teammate Matt Christensen stepped on his ankle and
he'll be ready for Saturday's second round.
"I think I was just more scared than anything," Williams said.
"I think it was a good move by coach to get me some rest."
Williams, was 7-for-9 from the field in 14 minutes in the
opening half as Duke opened leads of 16-1, 31-12 and 46-20 before
going in at halftime up 32.
The Blue Devils, entering the postseason with a No. 1 seed for
the fourth straight year, said they wanted to set a tone early in
the East Regional.
It took less than two minutes to do that against the Hawks, who
came into the game off their most successful season since moving up
to Division I in 1983.
Prior to the start, Monmouth fans chanted "Over-rated!
Over-rated!" as the Blue Devils warmed up.
Hardly.
"I guess they figured they would get that in while the score
was tied," Dunleavy said of the chant.
Duke bolted to an 11-0 lead 1:24 in as Williams sank two of his
six first-half 3-pointers and had a steal and layup.
"When it was 11-0, I was hoping the scoreboard was wrong,"
Owens said.
Things would soon get worse for the champions of the Northeast
Conference, who rallied to their league title against St. Francis
(N.Y.) after being down by 20 points in the second half.
There wasn't much of a fight in this one as Duke went to a zone
defense for much of the second half more out of mercy than strategy
and began using its reserves with 10½ minutes remaining.
"When you are down 20 against a comparable team you have a
chance. But when you're down against a team like Duke it just
exposes your weaknesses more," Monmouth coach Dave Calloway said.
"We pressed a little bit (when we got down) and they just
picked us apart."
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ALSO SEE
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Coach Mike Krzyzewski likes Duke's chances despite feeling the injury bug.
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